UNCSA
TO HOST DON HAHN, DISNEY PRODUCER AND DIRECTOR
Will Screen WAKING SLEEPING BEAUTY for Students

WINSTON-SALEM – Don Hahn, producer of some of Walt
Disney’s most cherished and successful films of the
past two decades, will be a special guest artist at the
University of North Carolina School of the Arts (UNCSA)
tomorrow, Wednesday, April
14.

Hahn will
introduce and screen his film WAKING SLEEPING BEAUTY
for UNCSA students at
noon in the Main Theatre of the ACE Exhibition
Complex in the UNCSA School of Filmmaking Studio
Village. A question-and-answer session will follow.

Hahn was
invited by UNCSA Chancellor John Mauceri, who is
a creative consultant and musical adviser to Walt Disney
Educational Productions.

Don Hahn
produced the classic BEAUTY AND THE BEAST, the first
animated film to receive a Best Picture nomination from
the Motion Picture Academy. His next film, THE LION
KING, broke box office records all over the world to
become the top-grossing traditionally animated film of
all time and a long-running blockbuster Broadway
musical.

Hahn also
served as associate producer on the landmark motion
picture WHO FRAMED ROGER RABBIT. His other films include
THE HUNCHBACK OF NOTRE DAME, ATLANTIS: THE LOST EMPIRE,
THE HAUNTED MANSION and the 2006 short THE LITTLE
MATCHGIRL, which earned Hahn his second Oscar
nomination.

Hahn is
the executive producer on OCEANS, the second
Disneynature film, making its debut on Earth Day 2010:
April 22.
He also executive produced EARTH, the first nature film
from the Disneynature label, about the wonders of
nature. It was released on Earth Day 2009.

His
documentary, WAKING SLEEPING BEAUTY, is Hahn’s directing
debut and chronicles the perfect storm of people and
circumstances that led to Disney’s animation renaissance
in the 1980s and ‘90s. The film had its world premiere
at the 2009 Toronto Film Festival, and won the audience
award at the Hampton Film Festival. It offers a candid
perspective of what happened in the creative ranks set
against the dynamic tensions among the top leadership:
Michael Eisner, Jeffrey Katzenberg and Roy Disney
(nephew of Walt).

Hahn is
currently directing and producing several documentary
and feature projects. He is also working with Tim Burton
on the stop-motion animated feature FRANKENWEENIE. Hahn
produced Burton’s THE NIGHTMARE BEFORE CHRISTMAS in
1993.

Hahn has
authored three books on the art of animation, including
the 2008 book “The Alchemy of Animation,” which provides
the definitive account of how animated films are created
in the modern age.

The
University of North Carolina School of the Arts is the
first state-supported, residential school of its kind in
the nation. Established as the North Carolina School of
the Arts by the N.C. General Assembly in 1963, UNCSA
opened in Winston-Salem (“The City of Arts and
Innovation”) in 1965 and became part of the University
of North Carolina system in 1972. More than 1,100
students from middle school through graduate school
train for careers in the arts in five professional
schools: Dance, Design and Production (including a
Visual Arts Program), Drama, Filmmaking, and Music.
UNCSA is the state’s only public arts conservatory,
dedicated entirely to the professional training of
talented students in the performing, visual and moving
image arts. Internationally renowned conductor John
Mauceri has been chancellor of UNCSA since 2006. UNCSA
is located at 1533 S. Main St., Winston-Salem. For more
information, visit
www.uncsa.edu.

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MEDIA: A limited number of seats are being made
available for media. If you are interested in attending,
please contact Marla Carpenter at 336-770-3337 or
336-414-9289. Thank you.